Floor-plane



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UNIT 1 'l CHARLES E. BARLOW, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

FLOOR-PLANE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 19,589; dated March 9, 1858.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. BARLow, of the city and county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Planes for Planing Decks of Vessels and Boarded Floors; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description there of, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, making a part of this specificat-ion.

The nature of my invention consists in providing an ordinary carpenters plane with a frame, so formed and connected as to enable the operator to stand in the most advantageous position while planing the decks of vessels, boarded floors and other similar surfaces.

Figure l is a longitudinal elevation, Fig. 2 is an end view and F ig. 3 is a plan of my improved plane.

A represents a earpenters plane of the usual shape having a pivot (B) rmly fixed to each side, said pivots (B) working freely in the bearings formed on the lower part of an iron frame The upper part of the iron frame (C) passes through the lower stay of the wood frame (D) and is secured thereto by a key (E). The upper part of wood frame (D) is formed somewhat like the handles of a plow, the length of which may be made to suit the workman. The

total length of the whole (for a man of a medium height) is about five feet. The plane (A) may be detached from the iron frame (C) by withdrawing the pins (E).

When planing olf certain kinds of timber I find it advantageous to weight the plane, by attaching a plate of lead to the top of the plane (A) which notI only causes the plane (A) to slide more steadily over the article being planed but relieves the operator'from the necessity of pressing the said plane (A) on to the said article being planed.

The workman when using my improved plane can place himself in any desirable position without moving the plane (A) from the article being` planed. That is to say in consequence of the frame (C) being` attac-hed to the plane (A) by the pivots B as above stated-the operator may elevate or depress the handles of frames (D) and (C) without affecting the position of the plane A which will therefore in all cases accommodate itself to the work.

The plane A and its connections are worked backward and forward substantially in the same manner as an ordinary plane when being used on a carpenters bench; and the decks of vessels, boarded floors and other similar surfaces can be thereby planed more expeditiously, and with far less manual labor than is required by the usual mode of operation, which is not only tedious and laborious, but painful in consequence of the workman being compelled to rest on his knees while performing the same.

I do not claim broadly the manner of connect-ing the handle with the stock. But

YVhat I do claim, as a new article of manufacture, is-

The construction of a self adjusting floor plane, with its handle or handles hinged to the stock substantially as described, for the purposes setl forth.

CHARLES E. BARLOW.

Witnesses:

JAMES ECOLES, JOHN CLOUDS. 

